In a blog article<ref> Euan Mearns, "How long does it take to build a nuclear power plant?" in [[Energy Matters]], 27 Jul 2016, [http://euanmearns.com/how-long-does-it-take-to-build-a-nuclear-power-plant/ [link]]</ref>, Euan Mearns examines data for 441 reactors, finding that

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In a blog article,<ref>

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"How long does it take to build a nuclear power plant?" by Euan Mearns,

* 374 out of 441 reactors were built in 10 or less than 10 years. There is a tail of 15% that have taken longer to build.

* 374 out of 441 reactors were built in 10 or less than 10 years. There is a tail of 15% that have taken longer to build.

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* The mean construction time of 441 reactors in use today was 7.5 years.

* The mean construction time of 441 reactors in use today was 7.5 years.

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A peer-reveiwed (but paywalled) statistical analysis of the construction duration of nuclear power plants, by Paul W.Thurner et al<ref>"How long does it take to build a nuclear power plant? A non-parametric event history approach with P-splines", Paul W.Thurner et al, [[Energy Policy]],[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421514001621 [link]], July 2014)</ref>, finds that "time of connection to grid increases over the years indicating increased societal sensibilities, respect for higher security standards, and increased project complexities".

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A peer-reveiwed (but paywalled) statistical analysis of the construction duration of nuclear power plants, by Paul W.Thurner et al,<ref>

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"How long does it take to build a nuclear power plant? A non-parametric event history approach with P-splines",

finds that "time of connection to grid increases over the years indicating increased societal sensibilities, respect for higher security standards, and increased project complexities".

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{{refs}}

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<references/>

Latest revision as of 14:06, 23 May 2020

A claim often made by opponents of nuclear energy is that it takes too long to build nuclear power stations. How quickly can we build them, and
how does the speed of building nuclear compare with how fast we can build wind and solar?

How long does it take to build a nuclear power plant?

In a blog article,[1]
Euan Mearns examines data for 441 reactors, finding that

374 out of 441 reactors were built in 10 or less than 10 years. There is a tail of 15% that have taken longer to build.

18 reactors were completed in 3 years! 12 of those in Japan, 3 in the USA, 2 in Russia and 1 in Switzerland. These are a mixture of boiling water and pressurised water reactors.

The mean construction time of 441 reactors in use today was 7.5 years.

A peer-reveiwed (but paywalled) statistical analysis of the construction duration of nuclear power plants, by Paul W.Thurner et al,[2]
finds that "time of connection to grid increases over the years indicating increased societal sensibilities, respect for higher security standards, and increased project complexities".

Footnotes and references

↑
"How long does it take to build a nuclear power plant?" by Euan Mearns,
in Energy Matters,
on 27 Jul 2016,
[link]

↑
"How long does it take to build a nuclear power plant? A non-parametric event history approach with P-splines",
by Paul W.Thurner et al,
in Energy Policy,
on July 2014,
[link]